Australia–New Zealand relations

Australia and New Zealand have a shared history, a largely shared language, and isolation from the rest of the world but physical proximity to each other. The two countries, which are separated by the Tasman Sea, have a close, cooperative relationship in which they share some common values and institutions as well as a friendly athletic rivalry. They collaborate politically and economically as well as on defense and foreign policy. The debate about whether the countries should become a single entity is ongoing, with New Zealand having more in common with Australia than with any other nation.

Australians and New Zealanders make more than two-and-one-half million short-term visits across the Tasman each year, with freedom of travel facilitated through the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangements (TTTA) of 1973, which allow Australians and New Zealanders unrestricted rights to visit, live, and work in either country. An estimated 670,000 New Zealand citizens, or almost 15 percent of the country’s population, live in Australia, and an estimated 70,000 Australians live in New Zealand.

The historical and family ties and deep friendships have fostered an enduring kinship between the nations despite their distinct cultural identities and some discord in recent years, especially regarding immigration policy.

Background

Since six British colonies became the self-governing Federation of Australia in 1901 and New Zealand became a self-governing dominion in 1907, both countries have gradually cut ties with Britain. During the first half of the twentieth century, Australia and New Zealand had no close relationship. In fact, New Zealand rejected an invitation to become part of the Australian federation, in part due to concerns about how the “White Australia” policy would apply to its Polynesian or Indigenous Maori citizens.

However, during the First World War, the two countries formed the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) and fought their first major joint military operation. Great Britain had declared war on Germany after Germany invaded Belgium in 1914, so Australia and New Zealand, as Dominions in the British Empire, considered themselves also at war. Soldiers in ANZAC became known as ANZACs, and their efforts are remembered each year on April 25, or ANZAC Day, which marks the anniversary of the landing of Australian and New Zealand troops at Gallipoli, Turkey, on April 25, 1915.

At dawn that day, the first of approximately seventy thousand soldiers from the Allies—with more than twenty thousand of them from Australia and New Zealand—landed at Gallipoli. Their aim was to reach Istanbul, remove Turkey from the war, and help Russia fight Germany. However, those intentions turned into a stalemate after the invaders missed their mark on the first day. For the next eight months, they clung to what land they had captured before eventually withdrawing at the end of 1915. After suffering heavy casualties on both sides, the Allied forces were evacuated, and approximately 8,700 Australians and 2,700 New Zealanders were killed.

In the twenty-first century, “Anzac tradition” recalls the ideals of courage, endurance, and unity that helped shape the identities and outlooks of both countries for years to come. The word “Anzac” itself is an iconic term, symbolizing the nations’ close relationship.

However, the bond has been complicated at times. Differing approaches to race and immigration date to New Zealand’s 1901 decision not to become Australia’s seventh state, and defense issues have acquired more prominence as Australia and the United States have strengthened their relationship. These differences have echoed across the decades, and experts note that officials from each country have often been privately critical of each other’s policies.

Overview

Australia is New Zealand’s most critical economic and political partner. The two nations have a longstanding close political relationship, with the intergovernmental relationship representing their most comprehensive bilateral tie. Their prime ministers and other ministers converse and meet regularly and formally. The parliamentary committees, political parties, and government agencies of each country have always dialogued closely and have mutual representation on each other’s boards. The countries also work together on foreign policy, security, and trade issues, including in the United Nations (UN) and World Trade Organization (WTO). Australia is New Zealand’s only formal defense ally.

In 2001, in partnership with universities and business schools, Australian and New Zealand national and state/territory-level governments established the Australia and New Zealand School of Government to further strengthen links between the countries’ public sectors.

The Australia and New Zealand Closer Economic Relations (CER), recognized as the world’s most comprehensive, effective, and mutually compatible free-trade agreement, is the main driver of the countries’ strong economic bond. The nations have committed to the Single Economic Market (SEM) agenda process, designed to create a seamless trans-Tasman business environment. Australia is New Zealand’s largest goods and services trading partner overall, and New Zealand is Australia’s fourth-largest destination for goods exports and its largest destination for services exports. New Zealand is Australia’s largest market for manufactured products and its largest market for insurance and pension services.

New Zealanders invest more in Australia than any other foreign country, with a direct investment of $12.2 billion. Australia, investing $53 billion, is New Zealand’s largest source of foreign direct investment.

However, for all the affinity, the two nations are on slightly different foreign policy trajectories. Since the mid-1980s, their security paths have diverged. Today’s Australia maintains strong multipurpose armed forces and is almost fully committed to the United States’ approach to international security, while New Zealand remains ambivalent about American policies and has designed its armed forces largely for limited regional operations.

Australia is more closely aligned with American policies on counter-terrorism, power cooperation, and pre-emption since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States and the 2002 Bali bombings. Australia supported the United States’ 2003 invasion of Iraq, while an equivocal New Zealand argued for UN authorization. Both Australia and New Zealand have formal status as major non-NATO US allies, but Australia is frequently acknowledged as an ally while New Zealand is referred to as a close friend, with the difference tracing to the mid-1980s, when New Zealand refused port visits from US nuclear warships. The United States subsequently suspended its security guarantee to New Zealand.

In June 2003 the two countries released the “Joint Statement on Closer Defense Relations,” which defines five specific relationship outcomes and asserts that no strategic partnership in the region is closer than that between Australia and New Zealand. The defined outcomes were a mutual understanding of respective national security policies, national force development decisions to operate together, mutual proficiency in combined and joint operations, logistic support and sustainment arrangements, and coordinated and complementary regional defense assistance.

National security policy directions are markedly divergent, however. New Zealand remains staunchly nuclear-free, while Australia, with the United States and Britain, plans to build nuclear-powered attack submarines. Still, each country’s armed forces can fill each other’s gaps. While they do not mirror each other on foreign policy, Australia and New Zealand are considered to have significant regional response capability.

However, Immigration policies continue to strain the relationship. Most recently, in 2014, Australia changed its immigration laws to permit visa cancellations and deportations for character reasons, often related to criminal convictions. Since 2015, about two-thirds of the nearly three thousand deported New Zealanders were Maori or Polynesian, according to the New Zealand government.

The recent treatment of New Zealand immigrants by Australia has led to a marked rift between the nations. The fractures began in 2001 when Australia’s conservative government made it harder for New Zealanders to obtain citizenship and deported thousands. In 2023, Australia, led by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and a new center-left government, reversed a two-decades-old policy and restored rights for the nearly seven hundred thousand New Zealanders living in Australia to easily gain citizenship, putting them on par with Australian immigrants in New Zealand. The Albanese administration took steps to address the previous problems, leading the prime minister and the home affairs minister to make public declarations of best-friendship.

In 2023, Albanese announced a streamlined process for New Zealanders living in Australia to attain citizenship after four years, asserting that the 2001 should changes never have been made. However, that news was viewed as entirely positive, and some New Zealanders claimed that Albanese’s move was selfish. They noted that New Zealand is grappling with a skills shortage and a stalled economy. Concerns that even more New Zealanders would flee to Australia because of its more robust economy have led many to conclude that Australia was on the receiving end of the rules change, procuring highly skilled, employable taxpayers. Some even speculated that Australia had merely raided New Zealand for talent.

Future discussions about joint relations are expected to include more permanent combined defense agreements, even closer economic ties up to and including a single currency, questions of sovereignty, and Asia-Pacific development suited to both countries’ needs.

Bibliography

“Anzac Day: Background and History.” Australian Embassy and Permanent Mission to the United Nations, austria.embassy.gov.au/vien/AnzacDay‗background.html#:~:text=ANZAC%20stands%20for%20Australian%20and,forces%20became%20known%20as%20ANZACs. Accessed 16 July 2023.

“Australia.” New Zealand Foreign Affairs and Trade, www.mfat.govt.nz/en/countries-and-regions/australia-and-pacific/australia/. Accessed 16 July 2023.

Frost, Natasha. “Best Friends’ Australia and New Zealand Patch Up a Major Difference.” The New York Times, 27 Apr. 2023, www.nytimes.com/2023/04/27/world/asia/australia-new-zealand-migrants-citizenship.html. Accessed 16 July 2023.

“New Zealand Country Brief.” Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, www.dfat.gov.au/geo/new-zealand/new-zealand-country-brief. Accessed 17 July 2023.

Rolfe, Jim. “Australia-New Zealand Relations: Allies, Friends, Rivals.” Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, Oct. 2004, apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA627510.pdf. Accessed 17 July 2023.

“Trans-Tasman Ties: New Zealand’s Relationship with Australia.” Christchurch City Council Libraries, christchurchcitylibraries.com/society/politics/new-zealand/international-relations/australia/. Accessed 17 July 2023.